1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wallet cards and is specifically directed to a wallet card, such as a credit card, having a built-in light.
2. Background
The previously issued co-owned patents, namely, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,412,199; 5,434,405; 5,608,203; 5,856,661; and 6,176,430 disclose wallet cards with integral magnifying lenses and methods for making such cards. The disclosures of these patents are incorporated herein by reference. Such wallet cards are convenient for magnifying and reading printed information, such as sales receipts and the like. Frequently, the user of such a card will desire to read information in a low light situation. To facilitate this, it is desirable to have a source of illumination in proximity to the magnifying lens. Even without a magnifying lens, there are many situations in which it would be desirable to have a wallet card that incorporates a source of illumination.
Heretofore, sources of illumination, e.g. flashlights, have been proposed with the same general shape as a credit card or a similar wallet card. Such a light is shown, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,846. However, these prior art lights are significantly thicker than an ordinary credit card and, therefore, do not meet ISO standards for such cards. Accordingly, prior art card shaped lights are incapable of functioning as financial transaction cards.
The present invention provides a financial transaction card that has a thin, flat, substantially rigid substrate and a source of illumination disposed within the substrate. A source of electrical current is coupled to the source of illumination and a switch is provided to selectively close an electrical circuit between the source of electrical current and the source of illumination. As is customary for financial transaction cards, embossed alphanumeric indicia are included on the substrate.
Such a card may be made by printing first transaction card graphics on a first surface of a first core member and laminating a first overlay to the first surface of the first core member. A cavity is routed in a second surface of the first core member and a light is installed in the cavity. The cavity is then filled. Second transaction card graphics are printed on a first surface of a second core member and a second overlay is laminated thereto. The two core members are then joined by securing the second surface of the first core member to a second surface of the second core member.